Abengoa Solar (formerly Solúcar Energía) is a subsidiary of
Abengoa
Abengoa, S.A. was a Spanish multinational company in the green infrastructure, energy and water sectors. The company was founded in 1941 by Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, and was based in Seville, Spain. ...
. Its primary activities include designing, promotion, financing attainment, construction and operation of
solar power
Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...
stations that use
photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commerciall ...
,
concentrated photovoltaics
Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) (also known as concentrating photovoltaics or concentration photovoltaics) is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight. Unlike conventional photovoltaic systems, it uses lenses or cur ...
, or
concentrated solar thermal
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated whe ...
technologies. As a consequence of the heavy debt of the Abengoa group, Abengoa Solar was sold in January 2023 to Rioglass Solar Holding.
Abengoa Solar and innovation
R&D investment:
Over 42.4 million euros were invested in R&D in 2011 and a total over 150 million euros since 2007.
Patent rights:
Given the importance of R&D, legal protection of industrial and
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...
advancements is critical. The company, therefore, holds priority rights to various key inventions. 115 CSP and PV technology patent applications were registered as of May 2012.
Solar power tower
Abengoa Solar owns Europe's first commercially operating concentrating solar power plant, the
PS10 Solar Power Plant
The Solucar Complex is a complex in Sanlúcar la Mayor, Spain, used primarily for solar power generation.
The complex includes:
* PS10 Solar Power Plant
* PS20 Solar Power Plant
* Solnova Solar Power Station
Planning
The first two power pl ...
, that use the
solar power tower
A solar power tower, also known as 'central tower' power plant or 'heliostat' power plant, is a type of solar furnace using a tower to receive focused sunlight. It uses an array of flat, movable mirrors (called heliostats) to focus the sun's ra ...
technology, a form of
concentrated solar thermal
Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as concentrating solar power, concentrated solar thermal) systems generate solar power by using mirrors or lenses to concentrate a large area of sunlight into a receiver. Electricity is generated whe ...
technology. The Spanish plant was featured in an episode of World's Strangest on the SciFi network and James May's Big Ideas on the BBC.
Projects using their technology
*
Solana Generating Station
The Solana Generating Station is a solar power plant near Gila Bend, Arizona, about southwest of Phoenix. It was completed in 2013. When commissioned, it was the largest parabolic trough plant in the world, and the first U.S. solar plant with ...
, Arizona
See also
*
Solar power in Spain
Spain is one of the first countries to deploy large-scale solar photovoltaics, and is the world leader in concentrated solar power (CSP) production.
Spain is also one of the European countries with the most hours of sunshine.
In 2022, the cu ...
*
Renewable energy in the European Union
Renewable energy progress in the European Union (EU) is driven by the European Commission's 2023 revision of the Renewable Energy Directive, which raised the EU's binding renewable energy target for 2030 to at least 42.5%, up from the previous t ...
*
Energy policy of the European Union
The energy policy of the European Union focuses on energy security, Sustainable energy, sustainability, and integrating the energy markets of member states. An increasingly important part of it is climate policy. A key energy policy adopted in ...
References
External links
*
Technology companies of Spain
Solar energy companies
Solar
Solar may refer to:
Astronomy
* Of or relating to the Sun
** Solar telescope, a special purpose telescope used to observe the Sun
** A device that utilizes solar energy (e.g. "solar panels")
** Solar calendar, a calendar whose dates indicate t ...
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